
Actress Sofia Vergara and her actor husband Joe Manganiello are heading for a divorce after seven years of marriage. The couple issued a joint statement to the media and said, "We have made the difficult decision to divorce."
"As two people that love and care for one another very much, we politely ask for the respect of our privacy at this time as we navigate this new phase of our lives," the statement said.
The Modern Family star met Manganiello at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2014 for the first time where sparks flew. Vergara had attended the event with her then-fiance Nick Loeb.
Manganiello recalled immediately falling for the America's Got Talentjudge when he first saw her and detailed the encounter on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Showin 2020.
"As we’re walking around, who comes swooping down in front of us and just walks in front of us for about 100 yards is Sofia Vergara," Manganiello said. "She was wearing this dress that looked great on her and I just could not take my eyes off of her."
The two were eventually introduced by Vergara's Modern Family co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Vergara later ended her engagement with Loeb to date Manganiello.
The True Blood actor heard of the broken engagement, and from there, he made his move.
"I hit up Jesse Tyler Ferguson and said, ‘Hey man, was she broken up with the guy at the time?’" recalled the actor. "He said, ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t have tried to pull anything if that wasn’t the case.’ I said, ‘Well, I don’t know what kind of emotional state she’s in but tell her I want to take her out.'"
Ferguson eventually helped make the match happen and passed his co-star's phone number along, Page Six said in a report. A few weeks after back-and-forth calls, Manganiello flew out to New Orleans to take Vergara on a date while she was filming a movie. The rest, as they say, is history.
Just seven days ago, Manganiello wished Vergara a happy birthday with a shout-out on Instagram. The actress took a vacation in Italy without him around the same time.